Mary Medlicott, Storyteller and Author - Storyworks

Posts Tagged ‘getting participation’

Storytelling Starters ~ Getting Participation/1

Saturday, January 25th, 2014

‘In the middle…’ That’s what was often said to me by a therapist I used to visit in one difficult phase of my life. ‘I don’t know where to begin,’ I’d say. And that’s how she always replied: ‘How about in the middle?’

The theme of the series:

So in the middle is where I’m starting this new series. The theme is how to get children actively involved in a story, not only listening but joining in. My emphasis will be on Early Years children. But the same idea works with all ages. And there’s an awful lot to say.

1. Let your listeners do the expanding …

For example, take the topic of jewellery. Maybe your is story about highway robbers (I used to tell one of these once.) So there you are, in the middle, describing how the fiendish robbers hold up a carriage at night and order everyone inside to hand out their jewels.

Here’s your opportunity. ‘So that’s what the people started to do,’ you’re saying. ‘They were frightened. They started to take off their jewellery …’ (more…)

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Storytelling Starters ~ More Games

Saturday, May 5th, 2012

Got any storytelling games of your own to share? Please write in with your favourite. It would be great to hear about it. To me, storytelling games are invaluable – a vital part of the whole activity of storytelling and a fabulous way to get everyone relaxed. In my thirty years of storytelling, such examples as last week’s Desert Island became one of the strongest building blocks of my Storyworks approach. Here’s some reasons why:

  • Storytelling games can be just the thing in a very wide variety of circumstances – with children in schools or community groups (parents learning about storytelling, adult with learning disabilities, elderly people in day centres, people getting together for a good time).
  • They can be created (or recreated) to suit the themes of the stories to follow.
  • They can allow everyone to participate at their own level.
  • They give opportunity for individuals to express their own personalities, sharing their wit, humour and creativity in a totally unthreatening way.

In my Storyworks approach, (and I’m not talking here about the occasions when, as the storyteller, you’re being a performer in front of a sizeable audience), the storyteller is definitely NOT the be-all and the end-all and in NO WAY to be regarded as the only and most creative person in the room. The storyteller is the FACILITATOR, enabling the story or stories to become the centrepiece of the occasion and everyone present to share in the experience to the extent that they can and wish to do so.

Last week when I wrote about Desert Island, I said I’d talk this week about some of the variants it has spawned. (more…)

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Posted in All ages, Storytelling games | No Comments »